The state of Wisconsin recently received futuristic classrooms through the innovation of a Madison-based startup company, Holos. The company has come up with new virtual reality and augmented reality innovation that can make shoebox models obsolete very soon.
Holos is a platform based on spatial computing. The company responsible for developing this technology is carrying out tests regarding classroom-based immersive learning with the objective of aiding students and teachers in aspects of three-dimensional creation and streamlining of content and advanced learning.
Dan Borkhus, co-founder and CEO of the company remarked that the platform can be considered as a three-dimensional Microsoft Powerpoint version. He elaborated that the users can grab videos, text, photos and three-dimensional models from the platform’s VR space and bring them within their own environment. Users are also able to resize 3D models they find within the virtual reality environment. Borkhus gives an example saying that users could find themselves in locations like Egypt or the Amazon rainforest.
Users of Holos can effortlessly save the spaces created by them with a library feature. Created content can be shared instantly within the Holos ecosystem. The development facilitates considerable accessibility and can aid in teaching across schools.
Apart from the ‘drag and drop’ UI offered by the company, the Holos platform is also gaining accolades for its voice-activated, hands-free functionality. Users do not require to use any type of controllers for using the platform’s features.
The platform functions similar to Siri, apart from its visual element.
The introduction of technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality might be changing conventional methods of teaching including reading assignments,m worksheets and class lectures.- Tyler Waite, co-founder of the Holo
Waite and Borkus now believe that augmented reality/virtual reality can bring about considerable enhancements to the domain of education, encompassing aspects such as learning, knowledge retention and engagement.
Waite further stated that the new experience offered by the Holos platform was an innovative learning avenue, similar to a school field trip in principle. According to him, students are able to experience educational content in an immersive manner.
Back in 2015, when Holos was first launched by Borkhus and Waite, the startup firms was more focused on introducing AR and VR elements to household and workplace consumers. Despite the emergence of technology such as the Oculus Rift, there was an acute lack of appropriate software offerings to match up to the quality of the available hardware.
According to Borkhus, many companies were unable to utilise immersive technology forms a few years back, likening the situation to when the first personal computers were trying to penetrate the consumer market.
Holos, which was developed to make immersive technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality suitable for education, gained investors such as the Discovery 2 Product (D2P) accelerator. Holos is now perfecting the feature sets of its technology across schools in various Wisconsin locations including Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and Madison. The company has its sights set on the corporate sector.
